Archive for November, 2012

MSNBC PRESENTS “MISSING JOHNNY,” A DOCUMENTARY CHRONICLING THE 30 YEAR SEARCH FOR JOHNNY GOSCH, THE FIRST MISSING CHILD TO APPEAR ON A MILK CARTON ON DECEMBER 16TH AT 9PM ET

NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 30, 2012 –MSNBC’s dynamic news documentary series Maximum Drama continues to present thought-provoking stories with the premiere of “Missing Johnny,” an examination of the infamous thirty-year-old cold case of missing child Johnny Gosch –the first missing child to appear on a milk carton- on Sunday, December 16th at 9 pm ET. “Missing Johnny” focuses on the heartbreaking story of Johnny’s mother, Noreen Gosch, and her relentless quest to find the truth about her missing son.

“Missing Johnny,” chronicles the endless intrigue and conspiracy theories surrounding the eyewitness sightings, physical evidence and case-turning discoveries which span across three decades. The documentary intertwines original interviews of all the main characters with archival news footage, home video and film material spanning 30 years. Interviews include the last adult to see Johnny, the West Des Moines police captain and a convicted child molester who says he took part in Johnny’s abduction.Continue reading →

According to emailers things got a little screwy on CNBC earlier today when Brian Sullivan interviewed John McAffee via phone and McAffee dropped more than a few Bombs which Sullivan subsequently apologized for. I really don’t understand why McAffee is getting any air time on CNBC for. He’s a fugitive but he’s not a business story.

New York, NY, Nov. 29, 2012 – Bloomberg today announced that Josh Rucci, former senior executive at Getty Images, has joined Bloomberg Media Group as global head of content sales. In the newly formed position, Rucci is responsible for sales of news, photos, video and other products to newspapers, magazines, broadcasters and online publishers around the world. Bloomberg’s diverse content includes business, finance, politics, technology, luxury and other key verticals. Rucci is based in London and reports to Susan Vobejda, general manager of Bloomberg Media Licensing and Distribution.

“We are pleased to welcome Josh at this important time for Bloomberg, as we continue to sign important new deals with publishers and clients,” said Vobejda. “Josh’s expertise and strong history in content sales make him an ideal fit as we expand our media licensing and distribution deals globally.”Continue reading →

Zucker, who succeeds outgoing CNN chief Jim Walton starting in January, said while much about CNN needs to change, the network is already packed with talent and has already made promising moves – like tapping “Supersize Me” producer and star Morgan Spurlock and cranky globe-trotting TV chef Anthony Bourdain for new programming next year.

“News is not just about politics and war,” Zucker said. “The definition of news is broader than perhaps has been historically thought about here.”

Those out there, myself included, who were looking for a sign that CNN’s news brand will stay intact or at the very least as robust as it has been, are reading the above quote in abject horror. The inference here is that CNN wants to keep its news brand but move the goalposts regarding what constitutes news. This is a similar tactic to how MSNBC has “repositioned” itself under Zucker and Phil Griffin. In that network’s case, it translated into gutting news in favor of talking head political analysis. The MSNBC that everyone points to as a success story for Zucker ignores the reality that Jeff Zucker essentially killed MSNBC, as it existed, and created a new network bearing the same name with a different charter. I don’t think either Kent or Zucker want to take CNN in that direction to that degree but I do believe they want to alter the discussion about what constitutes news in order to give them more leeway in publicly justifying the programming that’s going to be airing on CNN with increasing frequency in the future.

The New York Times’ Brian Stelter and Bill Carter have reaction to the Zucker news…

Walter Isaacson, who ran CNN from 2001 to 2003, preceding Mr. Walton, said Mr. Zucker was a smart choice because “CNN has great journalists, but what it has needed is an imaginative programmer who knows how to build good shows.”

Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC, said that if anyone could “bring CNN back,” Mr. Zucker could. Referring to Roger Ailes, the Fox News chairman, Mr. Griffin said: “Ailes on one side, Zucker on the other: Game on.”

“You can look at CNN’s problem in two ways,” says Andrew Tyndall, a TV-news analyst who runs The Tyndall Report. “Either it’s lost its way as a TV channel that doesn’t know how to attract audiences, or it’s lost its way as a journalistic enterprise. In the minds of Time Warner, by hiring Zucker they’re saying it’s a television problem, not a journalism problem.”

And Tyndall contends that CNN’s attempts to solve its woes by “defining itself negatively — ‘we’re not like them’ — is diminishing and bland.” The question, he says, is, “How can you have a strong personality and gravitas at the same time without being ideological?”

Roger Ailes, top executive at Fox News, offered a welcome to Zucker on Thursday.

“I have known Jeff for a quarter of a century and he is one of the most experienced executives in the business,” Ailes said. “He is a talented producer with solid strategic skills and I’m sure he’ll make a difference at CNN. I wish Jeff the best.”

Tom Johnson, president of CNN during the 1990s, called Zucker’s hiring a “splendid choice.”

“I would hope it would be a return to CNN where news trumps all programming so CNN gets back to its basics of being a breaking news network,” Johnson said.

Bauder also touches on a topic on my mind…

There was no word on the futures of Ken Jautz and Mark Whitaker, who have been running the flagship network on a day-to-day basis since Walton’s departure.

One would think Whitaker is safe; the reasoning being his prior stint at NBC News. Jautz, on the other hand, I’m less certain about due to his lack of success after taking over from Jon Klein.

Out of all the Jeff Zucker to CNN articles I’ve read, the one I will bestow must read status on is the Washington Post’s Lisa de Moraes who gives a behind the curtain look at the press call that happened earlier today. I love de Moraes’ tone…

Both Zucker and Kent talked about improving the consistency of CNN shows, both in front of the camera and behind.

“CNN does not have an identity problem…we’ve had some execution problems, not only in primetime but in other dayparts as well,” Kent said.

“Jeff’s mission is to get every one of our platforms…to execute as well as possible.”

An LA Times reporter on the conference call asked if he’d just said he was going to be executing people in primetime.

Another member of the press on the call asked Zucker to settle the question the reporters were having at that very same moment on Twitter, as to whether Zucker will commute between his home in Manhattan and CNN’s operations in Atlanta by flying first class on commercial planes, or on a private jet.Continue reading →